cemetery
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- cœmeterium (history)
- cœmetery (archaic)
Etymology edit
From Middle English cimiterie, from Old French cimitiere, from Medieval Latin cimitērium, from Late Latin coemētērium, from Ancient Greek κοιμητήριον (koimētḗrion), from κοιμάω (koimáō, “I put to sleep”); compare cœmeterium. Displaced native Old English līctūn.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɛm.ɪˌtɹi/, /ˈsɛm.əˌtɹi/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɛm.ɪˌtɛɹ.i/, /ˈsɛm.əˌtɛɹ.i/
Audio (US) (file) - (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈsem.ɘˌtʃɹi/, /ˈsem.ɘˌtiəɹ.i/
- (AAVE) IPA(key): [ˈsɪm.əˌtɛ.ɪ]
Noun edit
cemetery (plural cemeteries)
- A place where the dead are buried; a graveyard or memorial park.
- 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter II, in The Last Man. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
- The plain around was interspersed with cemeteries, Turk, Greek, and Armenian, with their growth of cypress trees...
- 1970, Kazimierz Godłowski, “The chronology of the Late Roman and early migration periods in Central Europe”, in Acta scientiarum litterarumque: Schedae archeologicae[1], Nakładem Uniwersytetu Jagiellonśkiego, page 22:
- They were probably the work of individual craftsmen working to meet the chieftains' needs. Their place in the chronology of the big cemeteries is indicated by the less richly-decorated double-springed bronze brooches which are found here.
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, →OCLC, page 37:
- ...the cemetery—which people of shattering wit like Sampson never tired of calling ‘the dead centre of town’...
Synonyms edit
- See also Thesaurus:cemetery
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
a place where the dead are buried — see graveyard